We were on a road trip in Wyoming/Montana two years ago visiting Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP and other places and we ended up with a Yaris. At first, I thought the gas guage was broken, it simply did not move and we were putting some miles on. We went 400+ miles on a tank. Honestly, for two people, the car was great for getting from point A to point B cheaply.

So we get the car, drive out of Jackson WY, then realize there is no radio in the car. Nothing. Pretty funny, really. I didn't realize you could even get a car without a radio.

On several occasions this last weekend and this week, cruisers have been slowly driving down the arborway shining their search beams INTO HOUSES. Now I know why. WTF gives them the right to search/pester people?

oh, and to everyone in the last thread who said that police work such a dangerous job: actually, they don't. It's not even close to being the most dangerous, most injuries and deaths are due to traffic collisions (not people trying to run them down), and they have a murder rate ONE THIRD the general population, making them one of the safest segments of the population.

Jobs with the most fatalities
The following 10 positions saw the most deaths in 2008:
1. Motor vehicle operators
Number of victims: 908
Most common manner of death: 66 were highway-related.
2. Construction trades workers
Number of victims: 720
Most common manner of death: 37 were attributed to falls
3. Material moving workers
Number of victims: 248
Most common manner of death: 14 fall-related fatalities and 12 were struck by objects
4. Law enforcement workers
Number of victims: 144
Most common manner of death: 38 were highway-related and 33 were homicides
5. Agricultural workers
Number of victims: 33
Most common manner of death: 19 highway-related fatalities
6. Grounds maintenance workers
Number of victims: 128
Most common manner of death: 20 deaths each from falls and being struck by an object
7. Sales supervisors
Number of victims: 124
Most common manner of death: 52 homicides
8. Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, repairers
Number of victims: 110
Most common manner of death: 30 were struck by objects
9. Supervisors, construction and extraction workers
Number of victims: 108
Most common manner of death: 24 fall-related deaths
10. Metal or plastic workers
Number of victims: 102
Most common manner of death: 15 from being struck by an object and 13 from falls

How many of these people who died, died because of human error, and how many died because they were going out of their way to help someone else? Many of these industrial accidents can be prevented with better safety measures, just like many law enforcement injuries can be prevented with better training/tactics.

It isn't the dangerous/fatality factor that makes public saftey jobs different, it is the fact that you have to go into dangerous situations not knowing what is going to happen to you.